NEW YORK — Victor Wembanyama knew his misses and miscues cost the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
He was uncharacteristically passive for much of that game, while his back-breaking bad pass and foul of Jalen Brunson in the waning seconds set up an all-time-dramatic New York Knicks victory.
“Am I going to regret it? Yes, of course,” Wembanyama, 22, said after that defeat on Friday night. “Am I going to use that to fuel me and to fuel us next game? Absolutely.”
Those proved to be wise words by Wembanyama, who bounced back with his best performance of the Finals to lead the Spurs to a 115-111 win in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
The 7-4 Wembanyama totaled 32 points on 11-of-18 shooting, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks, cutting the Knicks’ series lead to 2-1 and injecting life into a Spurs season that was on the brink.
Wembanyama was much more aggressive on offense, while the Spurs made a concerted effort to get him shots near the basket.
To begin Game 3, the Spurs repeatedly found ways to create mismatches for the French sensation.
Knicks 7-footer Karl-Anthony Towns had proven to be a tough defensive matchup for the slighter Wembanyama, so the Spurs set screens throughout Monday’s first quarter in an effort to make the Knicks switch.
It resulted in three baskets for Wembanyama in the game’s first four minutes.
First, De’Aaron Fox found Wembanyama for an alley-oop dunk.
On the next possession, Stephon Castle set up another Wembanyama slam.
And less than two minutes later, with Town switched onto him, Castle found Wembanyama for a long lob, setting up an easy lay-up.
That’s after Wembanyama attempted only four shots in the entire first half of Game 2.
The Spurs also made an adjustment on defense, using Wembanyama more in the “rover” role — allowing him to roam the baseline and protect the paint — while deploying smaller defenders against Towns on the perimeter.
Josh Hart, whom Wembanyama willingly left open so he could stay near the basket, made the Spurs pay by making two quick 3-pointers. But the Knicks didn’t optimize Towns’ size advantage early on, as he attempted only one shot in the first quarter.
Wembanyama had two blocks in the first quarter, including on a 3-point attempt by OG Anunoby from the corner.
It was an overall eventful first quarter for Wembanyama, who, later in the period, got away with a shove that drove Brunson to the ground. Brunson took issue with the contact and got into it with Wembanyama once he rose to his feet.
Wembanyama finished the first quarter with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
The Knicks managed to score on Wembanyama several times in the second quarter, though the shots required a high degree of difficulty.
Jose Alvarado drove, pulled up and hit a jumper over Wembanyama, kicking off an 11-2 Knicks run.
Brunson later drilled a 3-pointer over the towering Frenchman, putting the Knicks up 50-49 with 4:18 to go for their first lead. But on the Spurs’ next possession, Wembanyama answered with a 3-pointer of his own.
And in the final 75 seconds of the half, Hart and Brunson both hit 3-pointers — the latter of which also coming over Wembanyama — to give the Knicks a 54-47 lead at the break.
Chants of “F–k you, Wemby” filled the Garden late in the second quarter. Wembanyama went into halftime with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Wembanyama continued to make plays in the second half, first faking a 3-pointer and finding a cutting Keldon Johnson for a lay-up to tie the game, 76-76.
On the Spurs’ next possession, a trailing Wembanyama pulled up for a deep 3-pointer, hitting it from about 30 feet out in front of Mitchell Robinson.
And to kick off the fourth quarter, Castle found Wembanyama for another alley-oop.
Wembanyama nearly delivered his biggest highlight of the series when he drilled another deep 3-pointer, this time through contact by Robinson. That gave the Spurs a 103-93 lead, and Wembanyama was set to go to the free-throw line to try to complete a four-point play.
But the Knicks challenged the play, and after a review, Johnson was charged with an offensive foul for pushing Robinson into Wembanyama, taking three points off the board for San Antonio.
But that didn’t derail Wembanyama, who converted yet another lob lay-up — this one with his back to the basket as he caught it — to give the Spurs a six-point lead with 5:40 to go.
That was Wembanyama’s fourth basket off a lob in the game. That’s after Wembanyama scored only one basket via lob over the first two games combined.
And the Spurs led, 108-100, when Wembanyama delivered a huge block on a driving Landry Shamet less than two minutes later.
His interior defense presented challenges for the Knicks, who attempted 3-pointers throughout the fourth.
Wembanyama averaged 27.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game over the first two games of the Finals, yet his performances in those Spurs losses left plenty to be desired.
In Game 1, Wembanyama committed six turnovers and shot 6 of 21 from the field, with only six of those shots coming within three feet of the basket.
In Game 2, Wembanyama shot just 2 of 4 in the first half, which head coach Mitch Johnson later said was “not acceptable.”
And while he caught fire after halftime that night, Game 2 ended in disaster for Wembanyama.
He missed two jumpers in the final 30.3 seconds, and in between, Wembanyama passed the ball to Stephon Castle when the latter wasn’t looking. The ball bounded off of Castle’s back and into the hands of Brunson, whom Wembanyama inadvertently fouled, setting up the Knicks’ game-winning free throw.
On the other end, Wembanyama had a good look before the final buzzer, but he missed from about 20 feet out, capping a 105-104 Knicks victory.
“I’m still very blurry, and that’s the whole problem,” Wembanyama said after that loss. “I need to have more poise, more control over the game. I’m not going to go through the whole possessions, but that’s the general image.”
Still, Wembanyama — the NBA’s unanimous Defensive Player of the Year and third-place finisher in MVP voting — managed to maintain perspective ahead of Game 3.
“How do I deal with it? I think the key is acceptance a lot of times, taking a step back, realizing all the journey that’s behind this and what’s ahead of this,” Wembanyama said.
“This is everything that I wished for. There’s really no reason to overthink it. I mean, this is what I’m built for.”